絕對的權力導致絕對的腐敗 全能高管逐漸消亡
The observation by 19th century historian Lord Acton that power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely seems appropriate when analysing one of the most significant trends in corporate governance — the steady demise of the all-powerful executive.
19世紀的歷史學家阿克頓勳爵(Lord Acton)的名言權力導致腐敗，絕對的權力導致絕對的腐敗，似乎很適合分析公司治理領域最重要的趨勢之一——全能高管的逐漸消亡。
Over the past decade, the joint chief executive/chairman has become a dying breed.
過去10年，首席執行官(CEO)兼董事長成爲了一個逐漸消亡的羣體。
Globally, the number of new appointees holding the chief executive/chairman role has dropped to a record low as corporate governance best practice moves towards the idea that the two most senior roles at a listed company should be split, says Strategy&, a consulting arm of professional services group PwC.
專業服務集團普華永道(PwC)旗下諮詢公司Strategy&表示，在全球範圍內，新任CEO兼董事長的人數降至創紀錄低點，因爲公司治理的最佳實踐正趨向於將上市公司的這兩個最高職位分開。
The UK’s corporate governance code advises against combining the two posts.
英國公司治理準則的忠告是不要將CEO和董事長這兩個職位合二爲一。
Only one company in the FTSE 100 — Hikma Pharmaceuticals — has one person, Said Darwazah, sharing the chief executive and chairman roles, says research group MSCI.
研究集團MSCI表示，在富時100指數(FTSE 100)成分股公司中，僅有一家公司裏有一個人身兼CEO和董事長兩職——Hikma Pharmaceuticals的賽義德.達爾瓦扎(Said Darwazah)。
The US is one of the few industrialised countries where a joint chief executive/chairman is still common at the biggest groups, although their numbers generally are falling.
在少數幾個工業化國家，身兼CEO和董事長兩職現象在最大的公司裏還相當常見，美國就是其中之一，不過這一人羣的人數總體上也在減少。
Half the companies listed on the S&P 500 have one person holding the combined role.
標準普爾500指數(S&P 500)成分股企業中，有半數企業中有一人身兼兩職。
Having a separate chief executive and chairman is becoming a global standard for almost everyone, says Per-Ola Karlsson, a partner at Strategy&.
由不同的人擔任CEO和董事長正在全球範圍內成爲幾乎所有人的標準，Strategy&合夥人佩爾-奧拉.卡爾鬆(Per-Ola Karlsson)說：
Governance codes around the world presume that it is best practice.
全世界的治理準則都把這視爲最佳實踐。
But in the US, progress has been slow.
但在美國，進展一直很緩慢。
He attributes this to the different mindset of Americans.
他將這種現象歸因於美國人的觀念不同。
They are more inclined to believe that someone holding both roles can deliver greater efficiency and better performance, while not compromising the principles of good corporate governance, he says.
他說，美國人更傾向於認爲身兼兩職能夠實現更高的效率和更好的業績，同時不違背良好公司治理的原則。
Jamie Dimon, chief executive, chairman and president of JPMorgan Chase, the US investment bank, is a prime example of a business leader who gives weight to the argument that one person in the joint role can deliver results.
美國投行摩根大通(JPMorgan Chase) CEO兼董事長兼總裁傑米.戴蒙(Jamie Dimon)，就是支持身兼多職能夠帶來業績這個論點的商業領袖的典範。
The bank has consistently been one of the top performers among the world’s financial groups since he took on the post of chairman in 2006, adding to his existing role of chief executive.
原本就擔任CEO的戴蒙在2006年開始兼任董事長一職，此後摩根大通一直是全球金融機構中業績最優秀的機構之一。
However, the bank has not avoided scandals.
然而，摩根大通未能避免醜聞。
It suffered large losses after a series of derivatives transactions entered by a trader, nicknamed the London Whale, went wrong.
綽號倫敦鯨的交易員進行的一系列衍生品交易令該行蒙受鉅額損失。
This prompted several investigations into the group’s internal controls.
這促使有關機構對該集團的內部控制進行了幾次調查。
Similar failures have prompted other companies and business leaders to emphasise the importance of having a separate chief executive and chairman.
類似的事件促使其他企業和商業領袖強調由不同的人分任CEO和董事長很重要。
Tom de Swaan, chairman of Zurich Insurance, argues that big financial groups should separate the roles because of their complexity.
蘇黎世保險(Zurich Insurance)董事長湯姆.德斯瓦恩(Tom de Swaan)主張，由於大型金融集團很複雜，因此它們應該分別任命董事長和CEO。
Although Mr de Swaan took up the joint role at Zurich temporarily last year after the departure — and subsequent suicide — of chief executive Martin Senn, he insists that it is healthier to split the positions.
儘管去年蘇黎世保險前首席執行官沈文天(Martin Senn)離職（後自殺）以後，德斯瓦恩暫時身兼兩職，但他堅稱分開這兩個職位更健康。
One of the most important roles in being a chairman is to have the right management in place, he adds.
身爲董事長，最重要的角色之一是任命合適的管理層，他補充：
The second thing is to make sure the company strategy is being executed effectively.
第二件事是確保企業戰略得到有效執行。
It is hard to carry out these roles properly if you are the chief executive as well.
如果你還兼任CEO，你很難恰當地履行這些職責。
Some big investment groups, such as UK asset managers Schroders, Legal & General Investment Management and Aberdeen Asset Management, strongly support separate roles.
英國資產管理公司施羅德(Schroders)、英國法通投資管理公司(Legal & General Investment Management，簡稱LGIM)、安本資產管理公司(Aberdeen Asset Management)等一些大型投資集團都強烈支持分開這兩個職位。
Jessica Ground, global head of stewardship at Schroders, puts it simply: The chief executive is there to run the company, the chairman is there to run the board.
施羅德的全球管理負責人傑茜卡.格朗德(Jessica Ground)簡潔總結道：CEO的任務是經營公司，董事長的任務是管理董事會。
These are two different activities.
這是兩種不同的活動。
Clare Payn, head of corporate governance in North America at LGIM, adds: Having one person do both suggests the chief executive can mark their own homework.
法通北美的企業治理負責人克萊爾.佩恩(Clare Payn)補充道：由一個人身兼兩職意味着CEO能夠給自己的作業打分。
The big listed companies are often very complicated institutions.
大型上市公司通常是非常複雜的機構。
The CEO does not have time to act as chairman as well.
CEO沒有時間兼任董事長。
Findings are mixed over whether a company performs better with separate or joint roles.
企業業績在哪種情況下更佳，分而任之還是合二爲一，研究結果並不一致。
One factor that complicates this analysis is that companies with poor results often bring in a joint chief executive/chairman to turn round performance.
讓這種分析變得更復雜的一個因素是，業績不佳的企業通常會任命一位CEO兼董事長來扭轉業績。
Between 2011 and 2015, the lowest performing companies globally appointed 50 per cent more joint chief executive/chairmen than the highest performing companies, according to Strategy&.
根據Strategy&的數據，在2011年到2015年間，全球範圍內表現最差的企業任命的CEO兼董事長要比業績最佳的企業多50%。
Other research by MSCI shows that companies where the roles are combined tend to lag behind in the long term.
MSCI的其他研究表明，將這兩種職位合二爲一的企業從長期來看往往會落後。
Over 10 years, average total shareholder returns were 225.8 per cent at the groups where the roles were combined and 361.9 per cent at the companies where they were separated.
合併這兩個職位的公司在這10年的平均總股東回報是225.8%，而將這兩個職位分開的公司是361.9%。
These figures were calculated as of December 31 2015.
根據截至2015年12月31日的10年中的數據計算.
The most recent data, published in August by Credit Suisse, also show that separating the roles may benefit performance.
瑞信(Credit Suisse) 8月發佈的最新數據也表明，分開這兩個職位可能有益於公司業績。
Of the 400 non-family-owned companies on the S&P 500, those with separate chief executives and chairmen delivered an average of 7.4 per cent annually over the 10 years to January 2016 compared with 5.3 per cent for companies with the same chief executive and chairman.
在截至2016年1月的10年中，標普500指數成分股公司中的400家非家族企業裏，分開CEO和董事長職位的公司的股價年均漲幅爲7.4%，而由一人身兼兩職的公司的股價年均漲幅爲5.3%。
However, there are no hard data to indicate which groups fare best when it comes to preventing scandals and improving corporate governance, says Mr Karlsson of Strategy&.
然而，在防止醜聞和改善公司治理方面，還沒有可靠的數據表明分而任之和身兼兩職哪種安排更好，Strategy&合夥人卡爾鬆說。
I would say that a separate, independent chairman would give a company a better chance of avoiding a major scandal.
我想說，不兼任CEO的獨立的董事長有更大機率讓企業避免重大丑聞。
But I have found no strong evidence to quantify this.
但我還沒有找到有力的證據來量化這一點。
Until there are firmer data backing the separation of the posts, the joint role is unlikely to become completely extinct.
除非有更可靠的數據支持分開這兩個職位的做法，否則CEO兼董事長不太可能完全消失。
Some investors, particularly in the US, will happily back an all-powerful holder of both roles — as long as they are delivering strong results and returns.
只要全能的身兼兩職者能夠實現強勁的業績和回報，一些投資者，尤其是美國投資者，樂於支持他們。
